Nordea Investment Management AB Raises Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 8.0%, owning approximately 0.66% of the company, valued at $133 million after acquiring additional shares in the second quarter.
• Analysts have set a range of target prices for Williams-Sonoma stock, with the highest being $230.00 from KeyCorp, indicating a positive outlook despite mixed market ratings with two Strong Buy, eight Buy, and one Sell ratings.
• Insider trading activity included CEO Laura Alber selling 90,000 shares for over $18 million, while insiders collectively sold over 114,000 shares worth nearly $23 million in the past three months.

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 816,176 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 60,163 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.66% of Williams-Sonoma worth $133,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $895,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $7,019,000 after acquiring an additional 9,266 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 128.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 217,644 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $34,410,000 after acquiring an additional 122,180 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,197 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,245,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Argus set a $212.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $179.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $198.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 90,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.17, for a total transaction of $18,015,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 876,927 shares in the company, valued at $175,534,477.59. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP David Randolph King sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.60, for a total value of $3,563,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,066,816. The trade was a 15.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 114,153 shares of company stock worth $22,901,008 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $185.65 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $22.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.22.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The specialty retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.21. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.47% and a net margin of 14.54%.The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Williams-Sonoma has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.04%.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.

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